Hiver Auto Assignment for Gmail Shared Inboxes, Round Robin and Load Balancing
Hiver turns a Gmail shared inbox into a team queue and can assign each incoming email for you, by round robin or by workload. It works well for a small team on one inbox. It gets thin once you have specialists, uneven shifts or an assignment cap you only get on a higher plan. This page shows how Hiver picks a teammate, what it skips, and where a routing layer adds what is missing.
In short
Hiver auto assigns shared inbox email in two ways. Round robin hands conversations to available members in turn, and automations can use an Assign among action with round robin or load balancing. Only members marked available receive work, and everyone starts unavailable by default. The per member assignment limit is on the Pro and Elite plans.
Why it fits
For an operations or support lead whose team lives in Gmail through Hiver, with three to thirty people, who sees one or two people answer most of the email, specialist questions land with generalists, or mail sit in Unassigned overnight, and who is deciding between a higher Hiver plan and a separate routing layer.
Everyone starts unavailable
Hiver only assigns to members marked available, and by default every member of a shared inbox starts unavailable. An admin can switch people on, or members can toggle themselves. A new inbox that seems to assign nothing is usually this setting.
Rules run before auto assignment
Custom automation rules are evaluated first. A rule that assigns a conversation directly takes it out of the round robin pool, so one broad rule can quietly skip your rotation for a whole category of mail.
Limits are a plan feature
The per member cap that stops overload is listed on Pro and Elite. When everyone is at the cap, new conversations wait in Unassigned until someone frees up capacity.
Automation counts follow the plan
The pricing page lists 10 automations per shared inbox on Growth, 20 on Pro and unlimited on Elite. A team with an inbox per client or region meets the Growth ceiling early.
A routing layer adds the missing inputs
Assigner decides the owner from round robin, weighted rotation, load balancing, skills and live availability, using shift schedules and time off, and records why each person was chosen. It sits beside Hiver and does not replace it.
Side by side
How each Hiver option picks the person
| Option | Where it lives | How it selects | What it ignores |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round robin auto assignment | Admin Panel, Shared Inboxes, Auto Assignment | Members marked available, in turn | Skills, conversation size, shifts |
| Automation Assign among, round robin | Automation rules | Rotation among the members you list | Workload, skills |
| Automation Assign among, load balancing | Automation rules | Current workload of each listed member | Skills, shifts, conversation size |
| Assignment limit | Shared inbox settings, Pro and Elite | Stops assigning at a per member cap, leaves the rest Unassigned | Whether the capped person is the right one |
| Skill based routing | Listed on Elite | Matches by skill | Depends on how skills are maintained |
| Assigner beside Hiver | Assigner Starter or higher | Round robin, weighted rotation, load balancing, skills, availability | Nothing hidden, each assignment records the reason |
Based on the Hiver help center articles on round robin and auto assignment and the Hiver pricing page, read November 7, 2026. Plan and feature names change, so confirm in your own account.
In detail
Set up Hiver assignment so it holds under load
Mark the right people available first
Because members start unavailable, the first test of any rotation is whether anyone is switched on. Decide whether admins set availability for everyone or members toggle themselves. If people forget, the rotation stalls without any error.
Order your rules on purpose
Custom rules run before auto assignment, and a rule that assigns directly removes the conversation from the pool. Put narrow rules, such as a VIP sender or a billing keyword, above broad ones, and keep the broad catch all to the rotation itself.
Choose round robin or load balancing by mix
Round robin is fair when every email costs about the same effort. Load balancing helps when some mail is long threads and some is one line answers, because it follows current workload. Neither reads the size of the email itself.
Set a cap people can actually meet
The assignment limit is only useful if the number is real. Too high and it never bites. Too low and mail piles in Unassigned at the start of every shift. Review it after two weeks of data.
Know where the native model stops
Selection inside a rotation does not read skills unless you are on the plan that lists skill based routing, and none of it reads a shift calendar. Teams patch this with more shared inboxes and more automations. That is when a router that owns the decision is simpler than another rule.
Where Assigner fits beside Hiver
Assigner chooses an owner using round robin, weighted rotation, load balancing, skills and live availability, with shift schedules and time off, and shows the reason for every assignment. It is priced per user, so you pay for the people who receive work. It is configuration work to connect, not a one click native app.
Test with a week of real email
Replay a recent week. Count how many conversations reached someone off shift, how many specialist questions went to a generalist, and the gap between your busiest and lightest teammate. If those numbers are small, stay native.
Questions buyers ask
Frequently asked questions
Does Hiver have round robin assignment?
Yes. Round robin assigns incoming shared inbox email to available members in turn, and you switch it on under Auto Assignment in the admin panel. Automations also offer an Assign among action with round robin or load balancing.
Why is Hiver not auto assigning emails?
Check that members are marked available, because everyone starts unavailable by default. Then check whether an automation rule assigns the conversation first, and whether every available member has reached the assignment limit, which leaves mail in Unassigned.
How does Hiver load balancing work?
The Assign among automation action with load balancing gives each conversation to the listed member with the lightest current workload. It does not weigh the size of a conversation or a member skill.
Which Hiver plan has assignment limits?
The per member assignment limit is listed on the Pro and Elite plans. Growth does not include it, so check your plan before relying on a cap to stop overload.
Can Hiver route by skill?
Skill based routing is listed on the Elite plan only. On Growth and Pro you can split work with separate shared inboxes and rules, but selection inside a rotation is by turn or workload.
Does Hiver respect shifts when assigning?
Hiver uses the availability status of each member. It does not read a shift calendar on its own, so availability only reflects the schedule if someone keeps it up to date.
What does Assigner add beside Hiver?
Assigner adds weighted rotation, skills, live availability from shifts and time off, and a recorded reason for every assignment. It is priced per user, from Starter at $7 per user per month billed yearly, with a five user minimum.
Keep reading
More on helpdesk assignment, rotation and pricing.
- Hiver pricing per user - Growth, Pro and Elite cost at 5, 10 and 25 users.
- Front shared inbox assignment - Round robin, load balancing and rule caps in Front.
- Support ticket routing - Route every request to the right agent by skill and load.
- Round robin ticket assignment - Rotation policies compared with load based assignment.
- Skills based routing - Send each item to the person best matched by expertise.
Stop hand-sorting your incoming work
Let Assigner route it to the right available person by skill, workload, and availability, using rules you control. Nothing sits unassigned and no one gets cherry-picked. Every assignment shows why.